"Bang bang bang" bursts of crisp gunshots echoed over the shooting range, Xiao Mingliang raised the telescope from time to time to check the results of the target, and after a while, he said: "The pass rate can reach six or seven percent, it seems that the 500,000 rounds of ammunition are not given in vain, and it is good for recruits to have this result." ”

"It's thanks to this new rifle." Monk Lingqin said with a smile: "Compared with the Mini gun, this rifle is easy to shoot and aim, and again, this batch of recruits used Minny guns in their previous shooting training, and the foundation is better, otherwise it is difficult to achieve this result." ”

Xiao Mingliang inspected the training situation in all aspects of the Hiraka battalion in the past two days, and was generally quite satisfied, the Hiraka battalion had expanded from more than 16,000 people to 22,000 people, but most of them were recruits, or recruits who were not even equipped with weapons, similar to Yuan Qi's reserves, he was not at ease, and came to inspect on purpose.

After some inspection, he also had a bottom in his heart, the ordinary training of the Eight Banners New Army was quite solid, otherwise it would not be possible to reach this level in a short period of time, although it could not be compared with the Yuanqi New Army, but it was definitely more than enough to fight the Japanese army equipped with old-fashioned front-loading smoothbore guns.

However, the tone of the monk Lingqin who listened was a little boastful, he couldn't help but beat it, and groaned slightly, before he said: "Live ammunition shooting is okay, but the training of fighting is somewhat lacking, and whether or not it can fight in the white is an important criterion for testing whether a unit is qualified." ”

These words can be said to have hit the nail on the head and directly hit the weakness, and Monk Greenqin's face was a little sneering, white-knuckle combat is not only the weakness of the new army of the Hefang battalion, but also the weakness of the entire Eight Banners New Army.

Seeing the expression of the monk Lingqin, Yi Xun said slowly: "White-knuckle combat is indeed a shortcoming, we will try our best to make up for it, increase the amount of stabbing training, and use white-knuckle combat as appropriate in actual combat." ”

"The Japanese armed forces are backward, and they will inevitably do everything possible to find opportunities for white-knuckle warfare in the war." Xiao Mingliang said unceremoniously: "White-knuckle battles should not be the opponents of the Japanese army, try to avoid it, I will try to get more grenade ration base for you." ”

Originally, Monk Greenqin thought that the other party was deliberately provoking, but when he heard this, he couldn't help but secretly feel ashamed, and hurriedly arched his hand: "Chief Commander Xiao's eyes are like torches, and grenades can indeed make up for the lack of white-knuckle combat." ”

Yi Xun took the opportunity to ask, "Do you want to launch an attack on Kyoto in advance?" ”

"Not bad." Xiao Mingliang nodded slightly: "The big shopkeeper called and said that the international situation may change the year after tomorrow, and the war against the Japanese must end before next winter, so that the battle of Kyoto should not be delayed any longer." ”

Will the international situation change in the coming year? Monk Greenqin immediately realized that this must be referring to Germany, that is to say, Yuan Qi is about to use troops in the northwest, in order to avoid fighting on two fronts, this is to ask for the end of the war against the Japanese as soon as possible, thinking of this, he can't help but feel a little moved, I don't know if there is an opportunity to participate in the battle of the northwest, he didn't dare to think before, now his relationship with Yuan Qi can be said to be further, and he doesn't need to pay attention to the attitude of the imperial court, it's not impossible.

Yixun didn't think about it so much, although the other party's tone was not an order, but it was not a discussion with him, he hurriedly said: "No problem, we obey the arrangement." ”

Seeing that Yixun lowered his posture, Xiao Mingliang bowed his head and said, "Don't worry, I have already dispatched an artillery battalion to reinforce it, and it will be there the day after tomorrow." ”

Hearing that there was also an artillery battalion reinforcement, Yi Xun was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Commander-in-Chief Xiao also thinks too highly of the Japanese army, two artillery battalions are enough to bombard Kyoto to the ground." ”

Monk Lingqin said: "Let's surround the three queyi, and intend to let go of the west, if the king of the Japanese does not escape, what should we do?" ”

Hearing this, Yi Xun smiled and said: "The monk king is a sincere person, even if the king does not flee west, we can also say that he fled west, and the shogunate still dares to reason with us?" ”

Xiao Mingliang said with a smile: "That's a good thing, since we are surrounded by three queyi, it is up to us to decide whether the king escapes or not." ”

Even on the outskirts of Kyoto, even those without military knowledge realized that this was the prelude to a large-scale attack by the Qing army, and the atmosphere in Kyoto immediately became tense.

The news that the Qing army was about to attack on a large scale spread far and wide, and it spread all over the city in an instant, and the city fell into a panic and chaos, and the evil deeds of the Qing army in Osaka for three days were well known in Kyoto, and everyone knew that once the city was broken, it was the time when they died.

Prince Jiazhang with a team of guards rushed into the palace, the Meiji Emperor was reluctant to leave Kyoto, whether it was a group of courtiers who persuaded his mother Nakayama to move with affection and reason, he was stubborn to stay in Kyoto, and Kyoto coexisted and died, now that the Qing army is about to attack, how can he not be in a hurry.

After entering the Chang Palace, seeing Meiji and respectfully saluting, he said in a deep voice: "The Qing army's large-scale attack is imminent, and I implore Your Majesty to quickly leave the city!" ”

Hearing that the Qing army was about to attack in a big way, Meiji felt a sense of relaxation, and said calmly: "I said that I will not go anywhere, and I will live and die with Kyoto." ”

"Your Majesty, Kyoto is now a dead city, and you have a chance to leave Kyoto!" Prince Kasho is still making a final effort, hoping that Meiji will change his mind, "Your Majesty even if ........" ”

Meiji said resolutely: "Needless to say, I have made up my mind." ”

"Someone!" Prince Jiazhang stood up and shouted decisively, and a large group of guards who were waiting outside rushed in, "Escort the Heavenly King out of the city!" As he spoke, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please change your clothes." ”

The camp of the Qing army and the big tent of the Chinese army.

"Report ——。 More than 2,000 Japanese soldiers came out of the north gate, and after going north, they turned west. ”

Monk Greenqin glanced at Yi Xun and said, "Could it be that the king of the Japanese escaped?" ”

"It doesn't matter if it's or not." Yi Xun said nonchalantly: "It's better to escape!" ”

"Capturing the Wa King alive is a great achievement." Monk Lingqin said: "Besides, the capture of Kyoto and the capture of the Wa King alive can be regarded as a complete achievement." ”

"What is the great achievement, is there still any meaning in the reward of the imperial court now?" Yi Xun said indifferently: "The king of the Japanese fled west, if we capture or kill us alive, I am afraid that there will be no success in Yuan Qineng." ”

"The artillery battalion that reported ——, reinforcements has arrived, and the battalion commander Tang Hongsheng is outside asking to see him."

When the artillery battalion arrived, he was overjoyed and said, "Please let him in." Then he commanded: "Order, pull out the camp tomorrow, and target Kyoto!" ”

Kyoto is also known as Heiankyo, which means peace and tranquility, it is modeled on the architectural style of Chang'an and Luoyang City in the Tang Dynasty of our country, but the scale is not comparable with Chang'an and Luoyang, it was destroyed in the war in history, and then rebuilt in the Azuchimo era, it has always been the nominal capital of the Wa Kingdom, with a history of more than 1,000 years, known as the ancient capital of thousands of years.

Outside the city of Kyoto, Yi Xun, who was riding on a horse, put down his binoculars, looked at the towering city in front of him, and said with emotion: "The thousand-year-old capital, this time it was destroyed in the war, and I am afraid that there is no chance to rebuild." ”

"The sixth master is still a literati in his bones." Monk Lingqin said with a smile: "But Yi Guocheng said that this Kyoto is the religious and cultural center of the Wa Kingdom, and it must be burned." ”

Before the words fell, a horse galloped over, and reported: "General, the artillery position has been constructed, and the artillery can be launched at any time." ”

"It doesn't take a single burn to plow this city to the ground with artillery!" Yi Xun said and turned the horse's head, "Go back to camp!" ”

Early the next morning, the deafening sound of "boom boom" began to sound, the all-steel breech-loading rifled guns had a long range, a high hit rate, and a fast gun speed, and the power of the flowering shells that had been continuously improved was not comparable to that of the past, and the explosive power was more than doubled, and the raindrop-like shells flew towards the city with a piercing sound, and then a series of violent explosions sounded.

The Japanese army, who were still using bronze front-loading smoothbore guns, were blown apart by a round of shelling, and they never dreamed that the power of the artillery could be so fierce and powerful!

The Japanese army defending the city was full of gall, and the Qing army waiting to attack the city was excited, listening to the violent explosions, looking at the dense smoke in the distance, many people were also stunned, speechless, such a fierce artillery fire, they were also seen for the first time.

"Compared with the Battle of Tianjin, I don't know how many times stronger this artillery is." Monk Greenqin put down the telescope and said with emotion: "Yuanqi is really changing with each passing day in the development and improvement of firearms, and every time I cooperate with Yuanqi, I have to be shocked by them." ”

Yi Xun said in a deep voice, "No matter how strong a city is, it makes no difference in the face of such fierce artillery fire, and Kyoto is like this, and the Jingshi is no better." After a pause, he continued, "I really should let those royalist officers come and take a look." ”

After a few rounds of shelling, the artillery fire immediately extended forward, and the loud charging horns rose one after another, and the shouts of the charge were immediately resounded, and even the sound of the artillery was suppressed.

Raising the binoculars and looking at them for a while, Yi Xun said: "This is the cooperation of the rifle cannon?" ”

"Not bad." Monk Greenqin said: "Extend the artillery bombardment, block the enemy's reinforcements, the infantry attack is almost without resistance, and you can easily take the city with a charge." ”

"No wonder Yuan Qi is invincible and invincible." Yi Xun sighed lightly: "This battle is too easy. ”

"It's easy to be true, but this kind of loser style of play, no money can afford it." Monk Lingqin said in a relaxed tone: "Yuan Qi has this capital, this kind of cannonball costs thirty taels of silver for one shot, and after a battle, the cannonball alone costs tens of thousands of taels of silver, not to mention that we don't have an artillery camp, even if we have it, we can't afford to raise it, let alone dare to adopt such extravagant tactics." ”

Thirty taels of silver for a cannonball? Yi Xun couldn't help but secretly say to himself, such a dense shelling is indeed too extravagant!

Monk Greenqin judged well, the Japanese army defending the city was caught off guard by the fierce artillery fire, the defenders at the head of the city suffered heavy casualties, and the subsequent reinforcements were blocked by the extended artillery bombardment, just a charge, the Qing army captured the city, the Japanese army immediately launched a fierce counterattack, the Qing army that occupied the favorable terrain and had sophisticated weapons easily repelled several counterattacks of the Japanese army, and most of the Qing army drove straight into Kyoto.

After entering the city, the Qing army encountered the stubborn resistance of the Japanese army, the two sides launched a cruel and fierce street battle, one by one street and alley to fight, although the Japanese army is backward in weapons, but it is familiar with the terrain, looking for various opportunities for hand-to-hand combat, especially the odd soldier team, which is composed of a large number of warriors and civilians, almost everyone has a Japanese knife, and the ambush and sneak attack are carried out in groups, causing a lot of casualties to the Qing soldiers who enter the city.

Hearing the report that the casualties of the troops entering the city were not small, Seng Lingqin angrily reprimanded: "Are all officers at all levels pig brains? Set fire to the city! ”

As soon as he heard that the city would be set on fire, Yixun hurriedly said, "Wait." After a pause, he continued: "The monk king doesn't think this is the best opportunity to sharpen in actual combat?" ”

"It's an opportunity, but it's too much of a toll to do so."

"Those who can survive are the best soldiers!" "We don't raise waste!" ”

"That's fine." Monk Greenqin said decisively: "Let's use Kyoto as a whetstone!" Order, no arson! ”

The street fighting was fierce and cruel, although the Qing army entered the city with many casualties, but no one set fire, not because the officers were not smart, but the commanders of all departments gave orders not to set fire! The reason is simple, reluctant! They had already heard that Kyoto was rich, and they couldn't bear to burn Kyoto clean with a fire, and the order of the monk Lingqin was in their arms.

The tragedy of the street battle exceeded the expectations of Yixun and Seng Lingqin, the Japanese army and the strange soldiers are all mortal hearts, extremely brave, and there are many troops, the residents of Kyoto City can escape, and those who do not escape are also determined to die, actively assist in the fight against the Qing army, and the entire Kyoto City can be said to be all soldiers.

At the end of the day, the casualties of the Qing army were as high as 2,000, and the casualties of the Japanese army, the strange army and the residents of the city were more than ten times or dozens of times, and the entire city of Kyoto was full of blood, and the sound of gunfire and artillery shouted and killed did not stop day and night.

The casualties were so great, not to mention the pain in Monk Greenqin's flesh, even Yixun faintly regretted it, he hesitated and said, "Why don't you .......?" ”

"It's taboo to change the order at night." Monk Greenqin waved his hand, lit a cigarette with a candle, and then said slowly: "When the battle is fought to this point, the gains and losses of setting fire to the city will not outweigh the losses, and it will also affect morale, so that all departments can sum up lessons and lessons in actual combat, and Kyoto is a good whetstone." ”

Yixun said worriedly: "....... such casualties, ...... this battle is over?" ”

"The sixth master is worried about crippling the troops?" Monk Greenqin said firmly: "No! The high casualties are today, and the troops just haven't adapted to this style of play, and tomorrow the situation will be much better, and the casualties will drop significantly. ”

Seeing that he was so sure, Yi Xun couldn't help but put his mind at ease, the battalion of the Hefang side was only more than 20,000 troops, and the loss was one or even two percent, he could still accept it, but if the loss was as high as thirty percent, it would really be a little worthless, besides, they had an absolute advantage in weapons, and if the casualties were too great, it would also damage the reputation of the two of them.